Means for identifying blanks for folding boxes



April 1,1969 .J, L gmmsznem 3, 3

MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING BLANKS FOR FOLDING BOXES SHeet. of 2 Filed Sept. 13-1966 Arman Ex 3,435,951 MEANS FOR IDENTIFYINGIBLANKS FOR FOLDING BOXES v 7 Filed se 't. j 19. 1966 April 1,1969 .1,; L'ANDENBERGER f Sheet United States Patent 3,435,951 MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING BLANKS FOR FOLDING BOXES John L. Landenberger, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa.

(Valley Forge Industrial Park, Norristown, Pa. 19401) Filed Sept. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 580,320 Int. Cl. B07c 7/00; B65h 1/00 US. Cl. 209122 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to the art of identification of folding box blanks.

Due to the fact that many medicinal components or multiple dosage thereof are packaged in boxes which, except for the text printed thereon, are otherwise identical, it becomes imperative toprovidea positive means of identification to insure against intermingling of the boxes as a safeguard for the ultimate consumer.

One objective of this invention is to provide identification means for insuring that all of the boxes constituting a given shipment are identical.

A further objective is toprovide a control device which is simple and versatile in that it is adaptable to respond .to a large variety of coded identification.

The full nature of this invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a control device embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view looking in the direction of line 2--2 0n FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view, looking in the direction of line 3-3 on FIG. 2 showing details of construction.

FIG. 4 is a view looking in the direction of lines 4-4 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the operation of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a folding box blank illustrating one form of coding of the blank.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the blank of FIG. 6 illustrating various combination of coding of the blank.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing the rejection of a blank by the control device.

In practice, the blanks 10, such as that shown in FIG. 2 for example, are deposited in a hopper 12 and are withdrawn, one at a time, by a conveyor belt 14, moving against the bottom of the hopper as shown in FIG. 1. The belt delivers the blanks to a box forming apparatus, which forms no part of this invention, and is, therefore, not shown. The construction of the blanks, other than the coding thereof, also forms no part of the invention, and it is sufficient to say that each blank is pre-cut and prescored to produce the type of box desired.

In order to have elfective control, each blank is code punched to identify with a specific product. For example, a blank can be provided with a notch 20 on the free edge 16 of glue flap 18 or it can be provided with notch 22 on the edge 24 of flap 26 of the blank. See FIG. 6. It will be noted that, when the notch is in glue flap 18 it will be invisible in the finished box, and that when the notch is in flap 26 it will be visible. The coding is effected by spacing notch 20 from either end of flap 18; by spacing notch 22 from either end of flap 26; or by using a combination of notches on the edges of either, or both, of said flaps. See FIG. 7. As an example, for aspirin, notch 20 will be used, and for quinine, notches 20 and 22 can be used, and so on for various products.

The control device also includes the projecting portions of one or more end walls 28 and 30 of hopper 12 which are deflected outwardly to form supporting tracks 32 and 34, which are adapted slidably to receive a sensing means as hereinatfer set forth.

The sensing means includes a channel-shaped mounting bracket 36 which is adapted to fit over track 32, or 34, and to be slidable relative thereto in the direction of double-headed arrow 38, FIG. 5. The outer flange 40 of mounting bracket 36 is provided with a thumb screw 42 which, when tightened, will hold said bracket in position relative to the track upon which it is mounted. The sensing means is in the nature of a vertical rod 44 which lies in proximity to the inner side of end wall 28, or 30, of hopper 12, FIGS. 3 and 5. The upper portion of rod 44 is bent as at 46 through the same angle as track 32 and is connected to the lower edge 48 of inner flange 50 of bracket 36. As shown, rod 44 is of a semi-circular cross section but it may be round, or otherwise, shaped.

The operation is as follows:

The blanks intended to receive a given product are identically notched and are arranged to form a stack. The sensing means 44 is positioned along tracks 32, so as to engage the aligning notches in the blanks. If all of the blanks are, in fact, identically notched, it will be possible to drop the entire stack of blanks into the hopperbecause all of the notches will slided own on rod 44. If the stack of blanks contains one or more blanks which do not have the specificed notch, it will be impossible to insert the stack into the hopper. FIG. 8. Thus, the person who is inserting the blanks will be apprised that at least one of the blanks in the stack is incorrectly notched, and he will be able to remove it. Of course, the operator can visually determine the presence, or absence, of the correct notches. But, due to work fatigue, carelessness, poor lighting, and other factors, the operators judgment cannot be completely relied upon, especially when a mistake may be fatal to some one.

If desired, the inner sides of tracks 32 and 34 can be calibrated to permit bracket 36 to be positioned with respect to the calibration of the notch in the edge of blank 10.

It is to be understood that sensing devices can be mounted on both of flaps 32 and 34 and in any desired combination and spacing, so as to sense corresponding code notches in flap 18 or flap 26. It will be understood also that code notches can be varied as shown in FIG. 7, and otherwise.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the control device of this invention provides an easy yet fool-proof method of sensing notched, coded, identification of similar sized blanks, and that by varying the positioning and the number of notches, a large number of cmobinations of identification patterns are available.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the construction heretofore described, but that changes and modifications may be made therein, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What I claim:

1. In combination,

a hopper having side walls and having its top and bottom open,

at least one side wall being extended upwardly and bent outwardly of the plane of said wall to provide a support, a blank adapted to be snugly inserted into said hopper with an edge thereof abutting the inner side of said side wall,

said edge having at least one notch therein, and sensing means including:

a bracket slidably mounted on said support,

a rod depending from said bracket and adapted to be aligned with said notch, and

means for locking said bracket to said support whereby the alignment of said rod with said notch permits insertion of said blank into said hopper and whereby the non-alignment of said rod with said notch prevents insertion of said blank into said hopper.

4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1891 Doan 20674 X 12/1958 Picking 271-61 X M. HENSON WOOD, ]R., Pirmal'y Examiner.

R. A. SCI-IACHER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

